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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26756242">prelude</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquamarine_nebula/pseuds/aquamarine_nebula'>aquamarine_nebula</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dancing, Discussions of kobold culture, Immediately post RQG171, M/M, Pre-Relationship, body swap shenanigans, is it real feelings or is it just the bodies they're in who knows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:54:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,187</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26756242</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquamarine_nebula/pseuds/aquamarine_nebula</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hamid has a lot to make up for, he knows that, but for now it's communication, educating himself, building bridges, getting a crush on Skraak? One of these isn't like the others.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan &amp; Azu, Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan/Skraak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>prelude</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/platoapproved/gifts">platoapproved</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>honestly i was cry laughing when hamid touched skraak's shoulder and skraak baulked and then i made it serious which is a general theme for me //eyes ed/einstein</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The music wasn’t exactly like anything Hamid had heard before, but there was still something pleasing about it. Maybe it was something about seeing the kobolds enjoy themselves, the tunes they weaved when something would spark in their eyes like remembrance. Those who still had tails and claws used them easily to tap out a beat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skraak had been with them for a while, conducting and issuing sharp commands to stand up straighter, to project a voice a little more, guiding to tap more to the beat. Hamid watched him silently. It wasn’t that he was...uncomfortable with the way Skraak treated the rest of the kobolds--the kobolds didn’t seem to mind and the gods knew he had no leg to stand on--but he was uncomfortable with something. Maybe he just wasn’t used to this body at all. He had accidentally punched himself in the face earlier when his hand slipped off a rope. It had </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and now he was just too wary of moving and hurting himself or someone else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Azu and Kiko were dancing, somehow managing to make the two kobold bodies move gracefully, leaping over each other’s tails with ease. Smiling was interesting in a kobold body, and when they smiled at each other, which was a lot of the time, it just looked like baring rows of wickedly sharp teeth. They didn’t seem to mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skraak finally left the rest of the kobolds and sat next to Hamid. He was...shorter than Hamid. That was fine; in their </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> bodies Skraak was a decent half-foot shorter than him, but Kiko wasn’t. If he misjudged </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he would be hurting Skraak and Kiko.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re doing really well,” Hamid said, half to distract himself from the whirling couples.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skraak made a vague noise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-is...Is music important? To kobolds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kiko’s sharp face narrowed, and Hamid could see the expression that would be on Skraak’s face. Distrust. “Yes,” he finally said. “But none of us really remember a whole song or dance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There are dances as well?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skraak nodded. “Festivals are mostly food, dancing and singing. Kobold young play fight and play dance a lot. Courtship dances.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hamid’s mouth went dry at that one, and he nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can show you if you’re interested.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skraak held out his hand, and looked at him expectantly. It must have been because of Kiko’s features, and Azu’s attraction to her, because Hamid could feel heat climbing up his cheeks. His knees wobbled a bit as he got to his feet and took Skraak’s hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, tails are important too,” Skraak explained. “But we’ll have to make do. Though I don’t understand how people dance without tails.” He looked around the room before stepping closer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Badly, I think,” Hamid said, eyeing where Cel was flinging their gangly limbs with little coordination. Skraak snickered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you’re actually interested in this? It’s not just guilt?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hamid blinked. “Of course-of course I am! I knew nothing about kobolds before, and that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> mistake. I’m trying to fix...what I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I know that’s the least I can do, but,” he dropped one of Skraak’s hands to wave vaguely around him, “all of this is happening so I’m kind of stuck with just learning about your culture for now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re not the best kobolds to learn that from. We were all young when we were taken. They waited for the adults to leave us and…” he trailed off. “You know the rest. Sassraa and Meerk hatched in the cages.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hamid didn’t want to think too hard of the implications of that, contenting himself with remembering that they were out now, and seeming to come more into their own. “What do you remember?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His face was distant as he watched a point somewhere over Hamid’s shoulder. “The dances were bright. We’d always dance on the surface, outside of the caves, and decorate our spines--” he went to pat at the spines which were usually a neat line down his back, and screwed up his face when he remembered they were no longer there, “--with metal and jewels that we found. It was almost blinding when it reflected the sun.” He switched hands, his feet tapping out a complicated rhythm that Hamid did his best to follow. He failed dismally, but Skraak was still grinning when he met his eyes again. “We’d switch partners a lot, most choreographed dances are meant to replicate courtship rituals, so there’s a lot of give and take.” Hamid braced himself for Skraak using that as an out to finally leave, but he stayed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hoped his palms weren’t too sweaty, but Skraak didn’t comment either way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The jewellery has a lot of hanging pieces, and there’s a lot of spinning, so the dancers themselves are part of the instruments.” Skraak always talked so </span>
  <em>
    <span>well</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Nothing like how Hamid would stumble over his words or lose his train of thought. Confidence, probably. There was no part of Skraak that didn’t believe that he was meant to be here, meant to guide his kobolds. No wonder he was chosen to lead. He even looked like a leader, taller than the rest, his scales a brighter red, his spines and claws a flawless black.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He spun suddenly, tapping his fingers together in a way that would create a satisfying </span>
  <em>
    <span>snap</span>
  </em>
  <span> if he still had his claws, but stumbled. Hamid didn’t think, just caught him so he wouldn’t fall. Skraak looked up at him with a sheepish grin. “No tail,” he explained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hopefully we’ll switch back before we have a chance to get used to these bodies, but I keep on almost crushing Azu in Meerk’s body.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Skraak didn’t move away that time, watching Hamid curiously as they spun. It was probably the bodies. Definitely the bodies, shooting hormones and chemicals around that had caused the sappy way Kiko and Azu would stare at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. The same chemicals that made Kiko lean against Azu’s touch and made Azu melt against her side when it was cold. And not to mention, Kiko was beautiful, with her dark eyes and hair, her sharp features, her skin tanned from years working in the sun. She was shorter than Azu, sure, but still tall and strong. This was all Kiko.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The song finished, and Skraak stepped away, tapping his foot on the floor like applause. “I should join them,” he explained, and Hamid nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does it feel any different?” Hamid asked Azu once they’d retired. He’d managed to squirrel his way into Azu’s quarters, more than a little disappointed that he couldn’t curl up in one of her arms like before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Having a tail, you mean? Yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I meant you and Kiko. Does it feel different?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Azu hummed. “A bit? To begin with, definitely. She’s not coping too well, but once we started dancing it felt the same.” Her eyes were distant, and although it didn’t translate well onto a kobold face Hamid was sure he could see that sappy smile he’d spied on her whenever she talked about Kiko.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hamid nodded. “Good,” he lied.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
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